ECRI Institute Launches New Personalized Value Analysis Service for Hospitals and Health Systems

ValueGuide provides customized research and hands-on support to help hospitals reach product decisions faster

PLYMOUTH MEETING, Pa., March 11, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- In the age of healthcare reform, hospitals must measure the value of medical products by their ability to improve patient care and contribute to effective management of costs. But without a proficient value analysis process in place, hospitals risk paying too much for products without considering the evidence about their clinical effectiveness.

ECRI Institute's new healthcare value analysis support service, ValueGuide, provides a simple solution for hospital value analysis committees that have limited research capabilities, lack clinical participation, or struggle with incomplete data or inconsistent processes, all of which can lead to lower quality of care and lost revenue.

The new service by ECRI Institute, a nonprofit organization that researches the best approaches to improving patient care, offers a high level of personal service that matches facilities with a dedicated analyst who supports the research for new product requests by summarizing the Institute's collective knowledge into concise, customized evidence-based reports.

Each analysis digs into the financial, safety, and/or clinical concerns about a product, and provides bottom-line conclusions about what the data mean so value analysis committees can make quicker, more informed product decisions. Product requests can range from premium orthopedic implants like hip and knee joints to exam gloves.

"Many value analysis committees spend weeks or months trying to come to consensus on how to proceed with a new product request, especially for implantables," says Timothy Browne, director, ECRI Institute. "ValueGuide cuts to the chase by showing them the supporting data for the products they're considering so they can make the right decisions quickly and gain new patient care benefits or savings sooner."

"We can help hospitals stay focused on improving patient care and their bottom line by working with them to set up an infrastructure that's transparent, involves key stakeholders, and uses unbiased evidence," says Thomas E. Skorup, FACHE, vice president of applied solutions, ECRI Institute.

The membership service draws on ECRI Institute's 45 years of reporting on healthcare hazards and recalls, collecting data on real prices paid for more than 1 million supply items, including implants, and researching the evidence behind claims made about healthcare technology.

To learn more about ValueGuide, contact ECRI Institute by phone at (610) 825-6000; by e-mail at communications@ecri.org or by mail at 5200 Butler Pike, Plymouth Meeting, PA 19462.

About ECRI InstituteECRI Institute, a nonprofit organization, dedicates itself to bringing the discipline of applied scientific research to healthcare to discover which medical procedures, devices, drugs, and processes are best to enable improved patient care. As pioneers in this science for 45 years, ECRI Institute marries experience and independence with the objectivity of evidence-based research. Strict conflict-of-interest guidelines ensure objectivity. ECRI Institute is designated an Evidence-based Practice Center by the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. ECRI Institute PSO is listed as a federally certified Patient Safety Organization by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Find ECRI Institute on Facebook (www.facebook.com/ECRIInstitute) and on Twitter (www.twitter.com/ECRI_Institute). For more information, visit www.ecri.org.